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In 2004, the Center was awarded an NIH Center of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) award for $10.7 million to develop junior faculty into independent researchers and enhance the administrative, equipment, and statistical infrastructure at the dental school. The theme of the COBRE is 'oral infectious diseases' which has become a research strength at the dental school. Current efforts center on opportunistic infections, periodontal disease, and caries. The Center has also acquired additional NIH grants totaling $4.5 million in the past 2 years. Additionally, the Center and Basic Science departments have recruited 5 new basic science faculty and a statistician over the past 3 years and have renovated much of the research space at the dental school. Another faculty recruitment effort is underway with more planned over the next several years. The scope of the Center is broad. It has established collaborations with other LSU Health Sciences Center (LSUHSC) faculty who are involved with research that transverses the research of the oral and craniofacial region including the gastrointestinal tract. For example, mucosal immunity involves the entire gastrointestinal tract, including the oral cavity, and Center researchers have teamed with faculty in the LSUHSC Department of Pharmacology and Physiology to investigate gastrointestinal tract inflammatory diseases and pain. Collaborations also exist with faculty in the department of Cell Biology and Anatomy for the study of craniofacial development.. Other collaborations are with the Departments of Internal Medicine and Microbiology, Immunology and Parasitology to investigate oral infections in HIV+ patients. The HIV Outpatient Program (HOP), housed off-site, has a dental clinic dedicated to HIV+ dental care that is also used for several funded research projects. The projects at the HOP have been aided by GCRC staff and are part of the GCRC research projects.These programs of collaboration extend to other state health care institutions in addition to LSUHSC. There also exists a strong biomaterials research program at LSUSD that is focused on fluoride-releasing composite fillings and a strong prosthodontic research program focusing on new materials for bridges and implants. Finally, the Center is home to the Master of Science in Oral Biology Program. From an economic perspective, Center research
has and will
continue to
provide jobs and lead to
patents, technology transfer and oral health
industry partnerships, thus positively impacting
the economy of the state. Center faculty currently
have over ten patents that are either approved or
pending.
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The
Center of Excellence in Oral and Craniofacial
Biology, a Louisiana state acknowledged Center, is
operated under the auspices of the LSUHSC School
of Dentistry (LSUSD). Faculty in five basic
science and nine clinical departments participate
in Center activities. Its research laboratories
occupy three floors at LSUSD and research
equipment includes a scanning electron microscopy
unit; materials testing equipment for measuring
mechanical, physical and electrochemical
properties of materials; fluorescence microscopy
unit; biological chemistry equipment; molecular
biology equipment; and physical chemistry
equipment. In 1999, the Center was awarded a $4.8
million grant from the Louisiana Board of Regents
Millennium Trust Health Excellence Fund (HEF); the
Center's proposal ranked second among 79 proposals
statewide.